7/09/2013

Which Is Better, Smartphones Or Digital Cameras?

By Mike Thompson


Ever since smartphones have entered the technology scene, it has caused a serious slump in compact camera sales. One of the most popular photo sharing sites, Flickr, has cites that the most popular cameras used by its members are the Apple iPhone 4S, the Apple iPhone 5 and the Apple iPhone 4.

It appears as if smartphones have eliminated the need to ever own a digital camera, however, there are a multitude of reasons why this is not the case. The simplest reason is higher quality of photos. A low illumination test against 2 popular smartphone brands, the Apple iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S4, and an average run of the mill point and shoot digital camera, the Canon Powershot G15, has shown that the digital camera is superior by a long shot.



Not like the smartphone, with a digital camera, you will able to shoot photos from a fair distance away because of the larger zoom factor. There are other benefits as well, including better metering, white balance and superior subject tracking. You may also crop photos at 300% zoom and use that to show off to your friends on Facebook or Instagram simply because the quality is still really great at that crop level. With a smartphone, this is just not possible.

You also have to take into account of the fact that your smartphone is still really just a phone that happens to be fairly versatile and that taking lots of photos can be a cause of a massive battery drain. You definitely don't want to be struggling to be making a phone call or a text message later on because of this.

In response to the smartphone invasion, camera companies have taken the bull by its horns and have developed competing versions of their own cameras. This has led to the rise of 'smart cameras' which allow you to share your photos wirelessly via Wi-Fi or your smartphone's mobile connection.

For example, Canon has released their newer digital camera called the Powershot N. This very small compact digital camera looks more like a smartphone but shoots like a digital camera and it also has Instagram-like filters as well as built-in Wi-Fi to allow you to share your photos online.

In general, digital compact cameras are becoming increasingly sophisticated so much so that it even rivals the DSLR versions of themselves. Take the latest Nikon Coolpix A for example, it has the same 16.1 megapixel sensor found in the Nikon D7100 camera as well as the image processor found in the earlier D7000 model.

All in all, smartphones shouldn't be totally disregarded as a viable camera alternative. It really comes down to shooting preferences. Are you someone who would ever shoot photos for the sake of social sharing? Then smartphones are your best bet. Are you someone who would like near-perfect shots everytime regardless of lighting conditions? Then using a digital camera is more suitable for you.

The best way to negotiate between these two choices is this, think of smartphones as complementary to digital cameras instead of their replacement.




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